These are the most bizarre ways stock models had their photos used

Nov 24, 2022

Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Đuđić

Dunja Đuđić

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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When you pose for stock photos, you may not even be able to imagine how those photos will be used. Writer Abigail Johnson recently warned people to “never do stock image modeling,” as a photo of her ended up in quite an… unusual article.

But then, people joined with their own experiences, each more bizarre than the other. Some of them were funny, but most were embarrassing and downright humiliating.

The article with a photo of Abigail was printed by The Guardian in early November this year. “I’m 25 and won’t have sex until I’m married. Why can’t I get a man?” the title reads, with a portrait of Abigail used as an illustration. She added “not a virgin” to her Twitter bio (which made me laugh out loud) and tweeted a screenshot of the article with a caption reading, “NEVER do stock image modeling, just don’t do it.”

And if you thought this was awkward… Wait to see the experiences of other stock photo models. They shared screenshots and video clips in the thread, with some truly embarrassing examples. As you scroll down, keeo in mind that there’s some foul language.


One of the users isn’t even a stock model, someone just used his profile photo


Of course, a few Twitter users recalled the famous Friends scene:

All of this reminded me of my own weird story back in 2018. I posted a self-portrait on EyeEm, and I later spotted it on Samsung Malaysia’s website, heavily photoshopped, advertising Samsung phone’s “portrait mode.” Needless to say that the photo was taken with a DSLR and a vintage lens.

To be fair, a model release notes how a photo of you might be used, and you can be sure that it will be used. And when you sign the document, you agree that it can be used in pretty much any context imaginable. So if you wouldn’t like to become the face of that new hemorrhoid cream or a VD prevention poster… Perhaps don’t take that stock modeling gig in the first place.

[via PetaPixel]

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Dunja Đuđić

Dunja Đuđić

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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One response to “These are the most bizarre ways stock models had their photos used”

  1. Camera operator Hong Kong Avatar
    Camera operator Hong Kong

    So, you put a picture on a stock photo website where you are half naked close to a pile of money and still wonder why they choose to talk about prostitution?
    Naked + bed + money = ?

    Reply